POP/ROCK
Sault, "Nine" (Forever Living Originals)
One of the biggest mysteries of the genre-bending British group Sault is how they have been able to release five uniformly great albums in a little over two years. "Nine" follows two of last year's best albums, "Untitled (Black Is)" and "Untitled (Rise)," and two of 2019's highlights, "5" and "7." Like its predecessors, "Nine" is explicitly about Black experience — in this case, growing up in London's public-housing projects, known as council estates. It's an album full of trauma and resilience and tantalizing songs.
Sault avoids press and most social media, and the band's membership is unclear, aside from producer Inflo (Dean Cover) and singer Cleo Sol (Cleopatra Nikolic).
"Nine" plays like a mixtape, journeying from sparse, beat-heavy tracks ("Fear," "London Gangs") to melancholy and beautiful ballads ("Bitter Streets," "Alcohol") to more hopeful, jazzy, collagelike constructions ("Nine," "Light's in Your Hands"). Spoken-word segments, sometimes harrowing, sometime humorous, divide the three acts, linking the songs as a sustained interrogation.
Last year's "Untitled" albums were more lush and leaned more on old-school soul; like "5" and "7," "Nine" is stripped down (and brief, at 34 minutes).
Steve klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer
jazz
Miles Davis, "Merci, Miles! Live at Vienne" (Rhino)
Miles fans should definitely drop the needle on this stunning, newly released concert set from the jazz legend's final tour. The recording is from July 1, 1991, at a festival in France, where the trumpeter led his terrific Miles Davis Group — featuring saxophonist Kenny Garrett and keyboardist Deron Johnson — through a memorable night of music, one of his last. He died on Sept. 28, 1991. The material includes two Prince numbers — "Penetration" and "Jailbait" — as well as covers of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and Michael Jackson's "Human Nature," which takes up one entire side of an LP.
Jim harrington, Mercury News
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